Separatism is on the rise in Europe. This column argues that, while the Eurozone Crisis is certainly reinforcing regional tensions, the underlying causes are globalisation and the deepening of the European project. Independence campaigners want access to the larger European market, while unfettering their regions from the centralised control of national governments. Renegotiating the terms of the relationship between national and regional governments is preferable to resorting to political threats or the use of force.

Asia’s trade-policy landscape is set to change with the start of negotiations on a Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership involving ASEAN and major regional economies. This column argues that such a deal could bring economic benefits, but that realising them depends on tackling several challenges during the negotiations and afterwards.

Canada and Mexico have recently been invited to join negotiations for the Trans-Pacific Partnership. This column argues that this is a big deal. It could produce a domino effect, beginning with the addition of Japan and Korea and leading to a model 21st century trade area encompassing over 700 million people with a combined GDP of some $26 trillion.

The global financial crisis has hurt banks in both advanced and emerging economies, but this column says the turmoil has favored the emerging-market entities in relative terms. It predicts a growing role for emerging-market banks in the global financial system, particularly in their own regions.

Preferential trade agreements are now a prominent feature of the global trading system. This column introduces the WTO's new World Trade Report that explores why deep regionalism is gaining momentum. It also proposes a number of options for increasing coherence between such agreements and the multilateral trading system.

How will global trade evolve in the 21st century? CEPR Policy Insight 56 points to a new way of thinking about regionalism - specifically, its economic implications, its political economy determinants, and its impact on the world trade system and the WTO.

How will global trade governance evolve in the 21st century? This column introduces a new CEPR Policy Insight arguing that 1) trade today is radically more complex than last century 2) 21st century trade demands are currently being met by “21st century regionalism”, not the WTO, and 3) this regionalism has quite different implications for world trade than the traditional thinking suggests.

Another suspension of the Doha Round is the likely outcome of the upcoming meeting. This essay argues that such a failure is now more dangerous than ever. For domestic political reasons unrelated to trade, the US will be in no position to lead on international trade issues for some years. As the US is still the “indispensable nation” for WTO talks, this means 2011 is the last good opportunity for many years.

Will financial regionalism damagingly fragment the global financial architecture precisely at the time when sturdy system-wide management is needed? This column points to the world trading system’s engagement with regional trade agreements as a source of lessons for how to harmonise regional and global approaches to international finance.

As WTO trade talks languish, what’s driving the surge in regional trade agreements? This column says that regionalism is being driven in large part by the domino effect, in which nations excluded from a trade agreement launch their own negotiations to redress trade diversion. This dynamic is more of a challenge to the WTO than a threat at the moment, but it should not be neglected.

Regional trade agreements have spread rapidly throughout the world since the early 1990s. This column surveys the latest theoretical and empirical research on regionalism, asking whether we should celebrate or be concerned about this trend. It concludes that although countries should approach regionalism with care, such agreements have been more of a blessing than a burden.

The fourth Summer Programme on the WTO, International Trade and Development will take place from June 28 to July 9, 2010 in Geneva. It will provide participants with a unique opportunity to enter into the analysis and atmosphere of multilateral trade. The programme, delivered with the Graduate Institute Centre for Trade and Economic Integration, combines economic, legal and political analysis of international trade and development.

Lectures and discussions will shed light on the following questions: the reasons why countries open their economies to trade and the reasons why they protect domestic industries, the means and pathways they use to either open or protect, what these considerations mean for the multilateral trading system and their implications for economic development.

Target Audience:
- Professionals keen to improve their knowledge on current major issues in international trade
- Students at MA level

East Asian economies adopted numerous preferential trade agreements over the last decade. This column summarises the results of a survey of firms in the region examining the effects of those trade deals. The region’s exporting manufacturers largely view trade preferences positively, though further policy action is needed to maximise the potential benefits.

Multilateral liberalisation is moving at a glacier pace while regionalism spreads like wildfire. Recent research suggests that at least in Latin America, regional tariff cutting induced a faster decline in external tariffs, but regionalism is more helpful precisely in the sectors where the multilateral system works best.

East Asia is the world’s most dynamic region in terms of the growth of incomes, trade and foreign direct investment. It is also experiencing a rapid growth the number of regional trade agreements. Although the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has emerged as the de facto integration hub for FTAs, the lattice of trade agreements is highly complex – a veritable noodle bowl for agreements. How can East Asia ensure that the region’s noodle bowl of FTAs can be consolidated into a single East Asian FTA—a stepping stone toward global integration?
This conference, sponsored by the Asian Development Bank Institute and the Graduate Institute (Geneva)'s Centre for Trade and Economic Integration considers the way forward for "taming the tangle" of trade arrangements in Asia.

Trade liberalisation is proceeding everywhere but at the WTO: while nations drag their feet in Geneva, they sign bilateral trade agreements by the dozen. Finishing the ongoing WTO talks is important, but regionalism is the new reality. To maintain its relevance, the WTO must adapt, as regionalism is here to stay.